Planting & Growing Onions

Onions start arriving at Athens Farm & Garden around mid-January for spring planting and mid-November for fall planting. We usually have a wonderful selection of white granex, sweet yellow or 1015Y, sweet red onions and sometimes we are surprised with special, more flavorful varieties. We offer them by the bunch, which usually contains approx. 30 onions or by the crate which holds 30 bunchs.

These onions make great table onions and when chopped go great in salads and dips as well.﻿﻿ If allowed to continue to grow and spaced apart, they will grow into larger, more round onions.

Planting onions is very easy to do in your own garden. The first thing you need to do is to make sure that you have good soil and this might mean mixing in some compost and organic material into the area that you would like to grow your onions. Onions will grow in almost any type of soil from sandy loam to heavy clay. But keep in mind that the soil needs to be firm. Onions prefer a slightly acidic soil with a PH of 5.5 to 5.6. Onions also need soil with good drainage because if they stay to moist they could grow mold and even rot﻿.﻿

When you are ready to plant your onions, take the rubber band off and lay them about on the ground where you are going to plant them. This makes it easier on you to if you lay them out before you plant them. If you are wanting to grow larger onions, you need to space them out at least 6 inches apart. If you want smaller 'table' onions then you can plant them closer at about 3 inches.

Now you can take your finger and poke a hole in your soil about 1 inch deep and place the white part of your onion into the hole. Gently work some dirt around the base of your onion, but don't mound it up around the onion, you want just enough to hold it in place. Continue to plant the rest of your onions in this manner.

﻿﻿Now you must have patience as your tiny onion plants take root and start to grow. You'll need to give them a good soaking every day until they start growing new green tops, then you can water them every other day. Keep in mind if it rains plenty, then you need to adjust your watering as well so they aren't drowning. It is recommended that you use an organic fertilizer with low nitrogen to feed your onions. Make sure to keep your onion garden weeded as onion plants don't compete well with other plants.

﻿﻿Harvesting is the best time in the garden! Its when we are able to reap all the benefits of having our own garden and see the fruits of our labor.

﻿Table onions are ready about 60-75 days after they were planted and when the green tops reach about 6-8 inches high and start to fall over. If left alone, the onions will grow larger and will slowly loose their sweet taste.﻿﻿﻿

Planting & Regrowing Onions in Containers

This is a great way to grow fresh onion seven if you don't have the space for a large garden or even a 4'x4' Square foot garden.

You can start with the plants, or start with the bottoms of the onions you had for dinner last night! You will need the ends with the small roots to get started.

Simply follow the instructions above for planting in a garden, or when using the root pieces, plant those firmly in a container.

For smaller table onions harvest when they are 60-75 days and make sure to snip off about 1/2 to 1 inch above the soil to allow the root base to stay and start growing again.

If you would like to grow larger, more bulb type onions, you will need to thin them or plant only afew per container to allow them room to round out and grow bigger.